Pump efficiencies and the effect on ROI — ComPac

Logo Com Pac

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jan. 14, 2021 – PRLog — Energy costs are difficult to predict when planning an organizational budget. Energy is a variable cost (https://www.fool.com/the-blueprint/fixed-cost-vs-variable-cost/), rising and falling based on market conditions wholly out of the control of the organization. Yet, paying for energy eats a significant portion of operating budgets. It is crucial to keep energy costs as low as possible.

The good news is that many organizations may be able to decrease energy costs by focusing on an area they may not have considered: their pump and filter room. Pumping system energy usage represents between 25 and 50 percent (https://www.waterworld.com/water-utility-management/energy-management/article/16193509/key-considerations-for-pump-life-cycle-cost-reduction) of the energy costs charged to manufacturing and industrial plants and a full 20 percent of the world’s total energy demand.

Facility managers sometimes fail to look beyond the initial pump purchase when estimating a company’s return on investment. Pump selection is a decision that can save you thousands of dollars over the lifetime of your pump.

Selecting the Right Pump Now Saves Money Later

Why invest in a quality pump? In short, energy is expensive, and better filtration pumps use less of it. Energy efficiency researchers have reported that 30% to 50% of the energy consumed (https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/05/f16/pumpl…) by pump systems are related to equipment or control systems.

There are several reasons poor pump selections or lower quality pump can contribute to a higher overall cost:

1. Most importantly, a lower quality or incorrectly sized pump is less efficient.
2. Selecting the wrong type of pump for the task.
3. Selecting a pump with a BEP (Best Efficiency Point) far from actual site hydraulic conditions.
4. A cheaply made pumping system requires a significant investment of time and resources for maintenance. Downtime can be costly, especially when it is unplanned.
5. Often, facilities purchase pump and filter systems used in critical applications in pairs so that a backup is always available.
6. Lower quality pumps experience more failures and require expensive repairs.

How Pump Room Efficiencies Impact the Lifetime Cost of Operation
Pump efficiencies measure how well a pump can convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. More efficient filtration pumps use less energy to convert costly kilowatt-hours into water filtration rates, lowering overall energy costs.

Going through a life cycle costing (https://www.waterworld.com/water-utility-management/energ…) (LCC) exercise is an excellent way to evaluate, and ultimately, optimize product costs concerning requirements around performance, safety, reliability, maintenance, waste, and other related variables.

As designated by The Hydraulic Institute (https://estore.pumps.org/Standards.aspx), the total life cycle cost includes the “cost to purchase, install, operate, maintain, and dispose of the pump.” LCC calculates the life cycle of a pump as the total lifetime cost of:

• Purchasing the pump system
• Installing the pump system
• The efficiency of the pump
• Maintenance and related downtime
• Associated support equipment
• Regulatory fees related to environmental concerns
• Disposing or decommissions the pumping equipment

Each of these comes with its own considerations. Factoring the energy efficiency of your new pump is especially important when making the initial purchase.

When it comes to the initial pumping system purchases, LCC takes into account costs related to engineering, the bidding process, administrative costs, testing, inspection fees, spare part inventory, staff training, and auxiliary equipment.

Ultimately, the initial purchase price is typically less than 15 percent of the total ownership cost . Pump system energy consumption costs can account for more than ten times the initial purchase price (https://www.chemengonline.com/determining-overall-pump-lifecycle-costs/).

What Is Pump Efficiency and How Is It Calculated?
Pump efficiency is the ratio of water horsepower output from the pump to the shaft horsepower input for the pump. Water horsepower is a measurement of pump flow rate and pressure. The pump’s motor creates shaft horsepower.

No pump is 100 percent efficient. If it were, the mechanical horsepower input would equal the water horsepower output. In reality, mechanical horsepower input is always greater than water horsepower output for any pump. Issues impacting pump efficiency include:

• Friction
• Leakages from pressure differentials within the pump case
• Incorrect pump size
• Pump design flaws
• Pumping speed
• Quality and duty ratings
• Poor quality materials

Pump efficiency is calculated based on two related values (https://www.uaex.edu/environment-nature/water/docs/IrrigSmart-3241-J-Pump-efficiency.pdf): the pump flow rate and total head, the total equivalent height of pumped fluid, taking into account pipe friction losses. Total head is determined by measuring the distance from the source water surface to the pump’s output. Pump pressure at the pump outlet is also part of the equation.

The Com-Pac & CPI Difference
Com-Pac has been making advances in the packaged filtration development sector for over 40 years. We use quality materials and products that offer longer life expectancy, including composite housing, CPI (Division of Com-Pa Filtration) C-Series epoxy-coated pumps, SS Impellers, and TEFC premium efficient motors.

When you partner with Com-Pac, you’ll benefit from a company focused on helping our clients find the most efficient, economical pumping solutions for their specific projects. Often, we can find a right-sized pump that can achieve upwards of 85 percent efficiency, in most cases almost 10 percent more than our competitors.  And as discussed earlier that 10% in efficiency gains can equate to tens of thousands of dollars in overall total cost of ownership savings.

Contact Com-Pac (https://Com-Pac.net) today to find out how we can match your needs with the right energy-efficient, high-quality filtration pump solution.